During Saturday’s game, Parkersburg South’s Eli Bartley passed Linsley’s Lucas Troulos, 23, in the corner. (Photo provided by Kim North)
PARKERSBURG — With 16 members in Class AAAA, Parkersburg South is guaranteed a postseason berth.
But playoff football arrived a little early during last week’s win at Linsley, and they will solidify the next two weeks of the regular season with road games at Spring Mills on Friday and Princeton the following week.
“Friday night at Spring Mills is going to be a competitive playoff type game.” South coach Nate Tanner said. “We don’t have to be more than what we are. I think if we play well in the fourth quarter, we can play with anyone in West Virginia at any time. The third quarter against Bridgeport earlier this season showed that. Ta.”
Spring Mills is coming off a win in a game between the No. 1 Cardinals and No. 2 Martinsburg. Martinsburg improved to 9-0 with a 17-12 win, but Spring Mills (7-1) suffered its first loss.
Cardinal quarterback Max Anderson completed 8 of 20 passes for 110 yards and ran Flor over 62 yards on 10 carries. Xavier Anderson had four receptions for 54 yards and Keyon Mills caught four passes for 56 yards.
On the ground, Blake Sanders rushed for 49 years on 17 carries and Camren Taylor added another 32 yards/
“Spring Mills is as great as advertised.” Tanner said. “Their quarterback has good size, good speed and agility. He throws the ball very well.
“Their receiver (Xavier Anderson) is a big kid, like 6-4 or 6-5. He plays both receiver and defensive end.
“Martinsburg has matchup issues, but Spring Mills was able to match up well with them.”
South expects to play at full strength, but it will be different from last Saturday’s game against Linsley, where six players did not play due to injuries and service team suspensions.
Backup quarterback Kinjin Latchmansingh took advantage of the opportunity, completing 18 of 27 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Latchminshin also rushed for 27 yards on 10 carries. His legs helped keep Patriot drives moving.
Kinjin intervened and it worked.” Tanner said. “I thought he was quite capable. ”
Receiver Brendon Kelly caught seven passes for 116 yards, including a 61-yard TD reception, which was South’s 21 unanswered points after halftime. As a result, the lead increased to 35-13.
The Patriots coaching staff didn’t make many adjustments defensively in the second half. Still, Coach Tanner was pleased with their response, which resulted in stops for most of the final 24 minutes.
“Defensively, the kids just played tough and stingy.” Tanner said. “In the first half, we allowed one touchdown on the slant. We got bombed. We even had a kickoff return for a touchdown, but our defense continued to play hard and at a high level.
“Linsley’s record (currently 0-8) was deceptive. Judging by their opponents’ record, we were the worst team.”
One South player in particular who wasn’t sidelined by a hand injury was Eli Bartley, who rushed for 175 yards and two TDs. Between carries and pass receptions, he had 39 touches in this game.
After seven games, the senior is 68 yards away from reaching 1,000 rushing yards this season.
“The six children who took part last week did a great job.” Tanner said. “As for Spring Mills, I’m interested to see how well he can perform in that environment.”
Contact Kelly Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
